The regular season of North America's richest basketball league kicks off Tuesday night .
Of course, to be a champion in a season
like this is a double honor. Especially since the previous two championships
were largely derailed by the pandemic. The season before that the teams had to
finish on a bubble, last season was cut short because of the short offseason.
Now we get to see a full regular season of 82 games in the usual timeframe,
from mid-October to mid-April. Though something from past seasons will remain:
Teams ranked 7th-10th in their regular-season conferences will play a play-in
to determine their final seeding.
The regular season of North America's
richest basketball league kicks off Tuesday night (Moscow time).
That the upcoming season will be special
for the major basketball league has been known since the summer - the National
Basketball Association is celebrating its 75th anniversary in a big way. They
have already prepared a special logo with the familiar figure of a basketball
player and the numbers "75" inscribed in a red and blue diamond. The
same logo will adorn the uniforms of all the clubs in the league. Also, the NBA
has promised to identify and publish a list of the 75 greatest players in its
history.
Of course, to be a champion in a season
like this is a double honor. Especially since the previous two championships
were largely derailed by the pandemic. The season before that the teams had to
finish on a bubble, last season was cut short because of the short offseason.
Now we get to see a full regular season of 82 games in the usual timeframe,
from mid-October to mid-April. Though something from past seasons will remain:
Teams ranked 7th-10th in their regular-season conferences will play a play-in
to determine their final seeding.
deer hut
The reigning champions will enter their anniversary season as the Milwaukee Bucks, who last summer became the strongest in the league for the second time in history and after a half-century hiatus. Yannis Adetokunbo has been tearing up the NBA for years, but in the playoffs, the Stags have had something go wrong every time, and their leader has had all the bumps in the road. But this past season, Milwaukee had all the stars come together. Adetokunbo, Chris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and others were not sure favorites before the playoffs began, but they destroyed Miami, then won a mind-blowing seven-game series with Brooklyn and were unstoppable from there.
In the offseason, the Bucks avoided any
notable roster losses and are ready to defend their title. They were up to the
task - the team as a whole and Adetokunbo in particular lacked winning
experience and the guys got lost in tough situations. But now all that is
behind them. Defending the title will be very difficult, though. Milwaukee
players can tell their Lakers counterparts about that - they became champions
for the 17th time in history the season before last, but failed miserably the
next season, barely making the playoffs and losing there in the first round.
That's why Los Angeles' management went
into overdrive last summer. They created a new "Big Three. None other than
Russell Westbrook was added to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who both won
rings for the Lakers in 2020, via an extra-complicated five-way exchange. There's
also a whole cast of stellar veterans. Just listen to this: Carmelo Anthony,
Deandre Jordan, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Trevor Ariza - and the last three
have been on the team before and are very familiar to the fans.
Let's see what else this old-school team is worth. On paper, the Lakers look like one of the top contenders for the championship. But I wonder how such an aged roster will survive a full regular season, especially if the team is plagued by injuries.
Irving goes to the Nets
Brooklyn is the odds-on favorite to win the
season. The Nets would have an even better shot at the championship
(admittedly, they had a much better shot) if it weren't for the story of Kyrie
Irving. Recall that Irving, who is one of the team's biggest stars along with
James Harden and Kevin Durant, flatly refused to be inoculated against Covid.
And in New York State, as well as in Los Angeles and San Francisco, for
example, the unvaccinated are not allowed to participate in indoor sports.
In response to Irving's démarche, Nets management has already announced that it will not negotiate a contract extension with the player that could have netted him $186 million. And he'll lose a lot of money this season, too, since he won't be able to play in the team's home games. Nevertheless, even without him, Brooklyn is one of the top contenders for the title. Could easily prove to be the biggest disappointment of the season, though. That makes it all the more interesting to watch the Nets play against the Bucks on the first day of the regular season.
But amidst yet another scandal - with Ben Simmons refusing to play for Philadelphia - it's still hard to imagine who else in the "East" could challenge Milwaukee and Brooklyn. We might see Miami in that role - the team from Florida after the 2020 Finals and a first-round playoff exit has strengthened Kyle Lowry and P.J. Tucker, which, combined with Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson, is a real hot potato.
In the West, the situation is far more complicated. Utah, who won last year's regular season with a whopping 72.2 win percentage, is still in line. Rudy Gober, Donovan Mitchell and company are sure to rumble this year and have a lot to look forward to. Let's not forget last season's finalists from Phoenix, which has one of the best back lines in the league led by Chris Paul and Devin Booker, as well as star center Deandre Ayton. Phoenix's problems could in many ways be similar to those experienced by Milwaukee a couple of years ago - a young and undeniably promising team that lacks experience.
It will be very interesting to look at other teams as well - Denver with last season's MVP Nikola Jokic, Dallas with Luka Doncic, Golden State with Stephen Curry and Clay Thompson, Philadelphia with Joel Embiid. But they're probably destined for supporting roles this season.
Eastern Conference. Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Washington Whisards, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons.
Western Conference. Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets.
